lakecat
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Posts posted by lakecat
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Nice explanation on those 980's. Mine were set up in a 28' deep by 18' wide by 16' high cathedral ceiling room...and is sunken 3'. Tall windows on each end.
The speakers were set up one pair at a time about twenty-eight inches from floor and six feet apart...just a hint of toe in. They were about six inches out from wall behind.
I have to add that my friend that bought the 980's....and is s big ADS fan...still prefers his 1590's.
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I had ADS 980 here that I bought at an estate sale.....only to find out the mids and tweeters were shot (fluid was dried up and were really dark instead of being clear). I removed them and spent the $225 or so dollars to get them like new by having them redone by Richard So. Was excited to get them set up and listen as I had read about them being studio monitors...rare....and being able to handle 300 watts.
And...I was disappointed. It was too clean for my taste. I am not a musician so critical listening is not my forte but the music that I like sounded better on the 3a. The bass is more buttery and warm with the 3a and the mid was better to me. The 980 had excellent highs but again that area is not important to me but it was certainly better than the screeching L166 JBL's I had here.
My buddy that is into audio big time bought my 980's and loves them.....so it is all in how we like to hear and the level one is at in listening to music. One note.....the woofer on the 980 is installed in a manner that is maddening to ever remove. I asked Richard So about it as I wanted to check out the crossover....and he showed me a tool he made to remove it. He said it is a real pain to remove...so I passed...:)
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7 hours ago, larrybody said:
I too recently found some AR 12s. They also have replacement non AR woofers,but the correct and fully functional tweeters and mids. I can't believe how good they sound,even with replacement woofers. I believe mine are also UK built. Do yours have the speckled paint on the backs? Peaked at the crossovers and they appear original, yet they sound awesome.
Hi Larry.....personally, I think it's the midrange in this speaker that makes it sound so good....plus matched to that good ole bass AR is famous for. I was like you when I heard it for the first time.....just shocked in good it sounded.
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On 4/20/2018 at 2:26 PM, DavidR said:
Dave did mine as well. I wanted all resistors changed to 1% metal film but he wouldn't do it. He did change 2 in the audio signal path. I also would have preferred something other than Sonicaps but that's what he likes to use. BIG difference in SQ; especially treble.
Did you ever A/B your ported 901's to the acoustic?
Hi...and yes I did before I sold the fives. I have a big great room so was hard to hear much difference...to me anyway. The series two's just had a slight edge in bass and sounded warmer...if that counts for anything. I had several people listen and they also could tell little difference. All ears from non musicians though...so not trained to hear the nuances. Just preferred the two's though.
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On 3/3/2018 at 3:11 PM, DavidR said:
Dave @ DHS Speakers? or the guy on AK (forget his name at the moment)?
It was Dave at DHS. Did a nice job for me.
Alas........ I see even on this forum someone has to be negative when it comes to Bose.....lol....cracks me up! Feel better now?
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I am curious about your tweeters in your pic.
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The only thing artificially colored is his ego.....
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That work looks nice! I wish I had the ability to do that. I sent mine to guy that does them up nice.
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Hi Tom......My group of friends back in the 70's worshiped the 901. Hanging them from the ceiling in the corners and it was music heaven...:) Even the nightclubs had them hanging on the dance floors where we went to drink and dance with the girls. I drove mine with a Sansui 9090 that I still own. Always got a lot of critics but I ignored it....as it sounded fine to me. Amar gets a pat on the back from me....and I have two sets of the Series II Continentals as a tribute to him.
Thanks for the cool picture of the 901.
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1 hour ago, GD70 said:
Lakecats are beautiful! A nice mix of classic and new!
(Hi Lakecat, I see you went for linen oatmeal grills - that looks great. The cabinets look really good - oiled? What is the veneer? Walnut or teak? The original woofers is something I have to do to get that bass you describe. Cheers David)
Thanks Glenn....I had some of the lambswool material here and saw the foam; if available; was going to be over a hundred bucks....so decision was more being cheap than anything!..lol.
David...thanks. The grill material is the lambswool linen that is used for the AR3a. The veneer is the standard walnut that was sanded and stained with Howards....then two coats of satin poly sprayed. These speakers were a great discovery as I never even heard of the 12's until I saw these on CL. I did some research online and saw they were highly regarded so went to look at them. They were missing the grills and mids had the surround rot but woofers had been redone and cabinets were in great shape. Older guy had them that he had purchased new so original owner that was downsizing and moving. Best part...he had a $25 price tag on them!...:)
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(I have retrofitted grills on a frame obtained from vintage_ar which look very smart but not half as good as the original 1970s "cool" foam grills when they were new.)
Dave...have pics buried in here somewhere but I did the grills to match the 3a. Foam just doesn't do anything for me and is fragile so thought I would keep in the family. Renewing pics in case anyone is interested.......:)
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Hi David...not sure what lounge music means but when I finished them, I played them in my fairly large great room. I had them on the floor and about six feet between them. I remembered them being advertised as "rock" speakers....so I put Pink Floyd on...
I sat about ten to twelve feet away....and was floored! It filled the room with great bass...the mids were just awesome...and you right...the tweeters brought everything forward. Even my son came to landing from his bedroom and asked what speakers was I playing? I turned the music down and asked why...and he remarked how good they sounded even in his bedroom!..lol. So he came down...and I turned it back up..and we jammed to the rest of Pink Floyd...both of us shaking our heads and smiling. I rate them over the AR5...but just my opinion. They sounded best right on floor.
And Steve...refoaming the mids was pretty easy after you figure out to hold VC steady while you have it elevated. I cut wood tongue suppressors into three inch strips and used them to elevate and hold VC steady while glued the surround.
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Nice work on the 12' s Glenn...:) I hope you found as I was pleasantly surprised to find out....how damn great these babies sound. Why a one year production is a mystery to me. They advertised them as "rock" speakers...and they are right.
I have them stacked on my 3a's in bedroom with a recapped Sansui 9090 pushing them that I bought new in 1976. Had early Beatles on last night before settling down for dreamland...and even my wife remarked how nice those two speakers sounded...and they have been up there for over a year!..lol. We don't play it a lot....so it seems each time we do....it's like...damn!...that sounds good!
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SpeakerWorks that was mentioned above has the exact size foam needed. Has the slight roll and not flat but my mids sound fantastic.
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Thanks for lesson Roy as I didn't realize you meant that way.
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{It is best to think of it as an AR-11 tweeter, which is more than adequate for the AR-3a...but like the AR-11, AR-9 series, HiVi, and any other tweeter of modern construction, the MW tweeter's response will require a crossover modification to properly integrate with early models (3, 3a, 5, 2a/2ax, LST, and LST-2). No tweeter of modern construction has the natural roll off characteristics of the early AR dome tweeters.}
Roy.....educate me a little on roll-off. I always read it as a short coming on the 3a and other models and why a super tweeter was added to some peoples units. If the new tweeter doesn't have that "roll-off".....isn't that a good thing?
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Roy...as always...thank you for taking the time to test this new tweeter for all AR lovers out there. Having all these options was but a dream until recently. Kudos to Frank for finding this.
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11 hours ago, larrybody said:
Found some 4x grills in my parts collection and decided these will be good to test some cleaning techniques. This is what they looked like before I started.
I put them in the tub and used Soft Scrub Oxi, trying to avoid chlorine bleach. Brushed them liberally using a 1 1/2 in. paintbrush. Rinsed them as lakecat described and let dry for a day. Better but not real impressive.
Took one and repeated the cleaning, this time using Soft Scrub with bleach. Better result but still not there yet. Good news is the wood frame and material seems to have held up fine.
That's a piece of 18 count lambswool behind them. Took a good look at my other 4x's and 4xa and the one with the lambswool looks the best. Not sure what way to go.
RaRa about the woofer damping design. You don't get many options when you buy used. New I would of preferred bluetooth, programmable potentiometers and liquid cooled voice coils.
I don't use the tub water to clean in. I spray the grill liberally with Fantastic and then brush well....THEN....dunk and swish them around in three inches of warm water with shampoo added....then quickly rinse them under spout. Then I lay them flat on towel...with another towel on top...and add a piece of wood and weight on top. Let that dry completely. If I am in a hurry, I will get out hair dryer and dry them. I have used spray Spic&Span and Fantastic on the grill material....but the trick is getting them nice and wet and using s soft brush on them real well before dunking in tub....:)
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I see your grill has wider sides than the 2x did so don't be afraid to clean them. My 2x was only slightly less then a 1/2" on sides near top.
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11 hours ago, larrybody said:
Decided to take a look under the grills while i had them outside. Removed 13 staples (odd number) and the grills came right off. No signs of any glue that I could see.
My other 4 series speakers have replaced grill cloth. One Michaels Tea Linen, one Jo Ann's off white linen, and the other 123 stitch 18ct. lambswool. On these I would like to try Lakecats cleaning of the original material. I kept the material from the others, so I might be able to wind up with something presentable.
Looks like some kind of mildew on the cone. hey these have the criss cross and the flower design. Losing light and being called for dinner, so i will remove the other grill tomorrow.
Please be careful when cleaning like I suggested. I was cleaning the AR2x's grills this weekend and the sides are thinner than what is on the 3a's, 3's...etc. I dipped it into the tub on three inches of water and when I lifted it to rinse under tub spout, one side bent and cracked...sigh. Sooo...maybe just spray, brush, and rinse under tub and pass on dipping in tub. I should have noticed how thin the sides are on the 2x but wasn't thinking. Not sure how wide the 4 grills are on sides.....so be careful.
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20 hours ago, Robthomp said:
That's what I originally thought. I just second guessed myself when this seller, who is not a hifi person per se, seemed a little concerned that I would monkey with them.
Thanks for the tip on getting the grills off - that seems like it will work. I guess patience is key. How did you clean yours? When I cleaned my 4x grills I used Woolite fabric cleaner and it left some slight streaks and didn't get them much cleaner.
Rob
I clean the grills by spraying lots of Fantastic on them and brushing lightly with a soft brush. I then drop them in about three inches of shampoo water in tub...swish them around a little...and then run them under tub spout running warm water at full strength to clean them. Then I lay them flat on towel and add towel on top...and lay a board on them and add weight. I let that dry naturally. Comes out really nice. That tub water is usually pretty dirty so a lot comes out.
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Rob....it makes no sense to leave them as is. I used a tiny, tiny flat screwdriver to get under the staple and pop up a little, and then removed with needle nose pliers on a pair of 2x's. Then slowly worked several three inch drywall knives under the grill to pop glue seams. Cleaned the grills and they came out nice. The value is having them work correctly.
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Suggestions....magazine size book or bigger with lots of pics. 150 pages seems enough to have it broken down into beginnings, the rise to the top, the battles within and competition, the lines of speakers that were introduced and why, the marketing that worked and what didn't, then the fade to selling the company.
I tell people that come here and see and hear these great speakers...that this was the last of the great era of US manufacturing and the great minds that were involved in changing the way music was heard....and seen.
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No expert here on sound but have had roughly about thirty pairs of assorted AR's go thru here over the last seven or eight years.
I love bass so the 3 and 3a have been my favs....but some ten inch woofer models that have surprised me is the AR12 and the latest possession...an early model 2ax. This alnico ax is all untouched original and the musicality that comes out of it is jaw dropping.
I have tried to like the 5's but the bass just isn't there for me so gone. Later version ax's...also gone. 2a's I had...gone. But....this ax....just something about that melts my butter.
Now I have to bring the 12's down here and compare them.
Stopped for toilet paper, found a pair of AR3's!
in Acoustic Research
Posted
Very cool that you got to meet Roy. His unselfishness has enabled many people to enjoy and love the AR sound. I am working on another set of 3's....and only because this man had the patience to teach me much about the AR's.
I look forward to meeting him one day...and buying him at least one beer..;)